The guards were done with the lashes and Danika had been let go. Urmaa rushed towards her at the podium, supporting her alongside her son, Mordred.
She couldn't walk and Urmaa knew that she was merely trying to steady herself standing. A tear escaped her eyes and before she knew it, she began to sob uncontrollably as she beheld the blood oozing from Danika's legs.
It was true that she didn't cry throughout the course of her punishment, but her blood did instead. The whole floor was stained with it.
"My beloved Danikaaa" she sobbed in between tears as Danika fell into her arms as she tried to lead her down from the podium where she stood.
Mordred took off his shirt and cleaned the mess on the floor with it. Making sure to mop off all traces of her blood. Nandi would be back soon and if they didn't prepare for her return, she would descend on them with her own wickedness demanding Danika return to clean the spot where she had been flogged.
Seeing this, Danika's heart broke the more. She could not understand why they were doing all these for her. Even her own father hadn't sacrificed this much, yet strangers who weren't even blood relations of hers were.
Lucian watched as they left, unable to do anything anymore as she had received the punishment he had demanded. Yet, he was still not satisfied. He should have increased his request to two hundred strokes of the whip. That way, even if she didn't want to cry or grovel for mercy, the pain from the strokes would make her.
But it was over and he didn't even achieve half of what he wanted.
He kept watching as the people began to disperse. Whispering to themselves as they did. They were probably talking about him and his humiliation.
A lowly omega had spat on him and didn't even cry as she was being punished, now he would be the talk of all the town because of how he was unable to get Danika to bow before him and plead for forgiveness.
He walked up to a soldier who stood guard in front of the punishment ground. He stood alone, an idea occured to Lucian.
He leaned towards the man and whispered a few words into his ears.
The soldier nodded in the affirmative. And Lucian drew out a tiny pouch from his pocket and tossed it into his hand lightly, it responded with a crisp clatter, it's content the sound of gold shekels rubbing against each other.
**
Back in their small room, Urmaa had applied herbs on Danika's legs but nothing seemed to be working. She and her son had been able to curtail the bleeding but the pain and marks were still visible.
She was desperate because she knew they would leave behind scars if she were unable to heal them on time. And a lady bearing scars on her body was no good sign as men would reject her for it.
With Mordred shredding and grinding herbs she had packed in her bag with stone he had picked from the floor, she was applying the ointment from it on her wounds.
It was as if she had known Danika would encounter troubles before coming to Raven Blood Pack, hence why she had packed the herbs before coming from Crimson Veil.
"Mother, stop crying already…" Mordred managed to mutter, trying to console her as he brought in the third batch of the herbs he was done grinding on the stone.
Urmaa didn't say anything, nor did her tears stop coming.
She worried for Danika. How would she be able to survive in such a place. With her becoming an ordinary worker now, many people would take advantage of the opportunity to taunt her, and she being herself wouldn't sit still and let anyone bully her that easily.
She admired that quality of hers before but right now, it would land her in trouble after trouble. She wasn't even done worrying about what Nandi would do to her for slapping her earlier in the morning, now she had gotten into the bad records of another?
Danika couldn't speak herself. Lying on her belly and staring at the wall, holding herself from wincing due to the pains she felt, words couldn't escape her lips.
She had failed Urmaa again. She had earlier instructed her to stay out of trouble. To lay low and keep quiet regardless of whatever anyone says or does to her.
She had tried. And she really wanted to. Especially given all Urmaa had done for her since she was little.
But when Lucian had mentioned his proposal to her, she had lost it. How dare he reduce her into one of the women he would keep in his harem to warm his bed? How dare he even see himself fit to lay with her?
She was a dignified woman and took pride in safeguarding her self respect, why would he then, whose reputation and social profile was nothing to write home about, have the audacity to consider keeping her in his harem.
"This isn't working" Urmaa muttered.
Her son stopped. He knew what his mother meant by that.
"It's forbidden Mother, what if someone finds out?" He argued.
" I don't care Mordred. I honestly don't..Danika is currently latent and unable to heal herself because her wolf hasn't awakened.If we don't do this, she might not be able to walk again"
Danika knew what she meant by that. She also knew that it was only Urmaa who considered her latent.
She believed that she had a wolf and that it would emerge one day. Others didn't. They simply called her cursed and wolfless.
Her own father didn't believe she had a wolf. She herself doubted if she did sometimes. Except Urmaa.
A tear fell from her eyes. She had been keeping it in ever since but right now her eyes stung more than what she could control, and before she knew it, tears had began to fall freely from her eyes, causing her to bawl them out but quietly.
She didn't want to turn or look at them. It would hurt her more that they were doing this for her. They were risking their lives just to heal her wounds. For her.
She noticed that the pain she felt before had stopped burning as Urmaa had paused rubbing the herbs on her legs.
A few minutes later, she felt a cold liquid being rubbed on her legs instead and the pain began to subside.
Tears flowed out of her eyes the more as Urmaa kept applying the liquid on her legs.
She knew what it was but she couldn't bring herself to look. She loathed that she was the reason they had to risk being caught.
Mordred picked up a clothe from the floor and began to dab at his palm, trying to stop his blood from flowing.
When he was sure that it had stopped for a while, he picked up a bloodied knife that was on the floor and dabbed at the blood on it, trying to clean it off.
Urmaa only applied some of the herbs she had removed from Danika's legs on her palm and her blood stopped flowing.
They had healed her wounds with their blood. And it was a forbidden act in all were-wolf packs.
But for her, they did it. The realization alone made Danika's breath hitch.